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MAIN NOTE: The real-time previewer may be a bit slow on some machines.
The Thickness slider controls the thickness of the main segments relative to their length (i.e., the length of the effect). In order to see the effect of this control, make sure that you first choose either Wireframe or Facet View Quality. The Detail slider controls how many pieces the segments are broken up into. At the extreme values, 0% detail the bolt is one piece; at 100% detail the bolt is broken into many pieces. High detail carries with it high facet count, so be careful. The Quality slider controls the rendering quality of the lightning bolt by controlling the number of facets in the mesh. At the extreme values, 0% quality results in each segment being constructed from six facets (i.e., simple three sided objects); 100% results in each main segment being constructed from 20 facets and in each secondary segment from fewer facets proportional to their width. You can see how the slider controls the facet count by looking either at the Facet Counter or at preview window under Wireframe quality. The Amount shown slider controls how much of the bolt is currently visible. This is useful in creating the illusion of bolt movement by only showing a certain percentage of the actual bolt. That is, by setting the slider to 0% at the beginning frame and then setting it to 100% at the end frame, an increasing amount of the bolt will be seen, as the animation progresses. The amount always starts at the source and works towards the target.
The Surface File uses all Lightwave .srf files. Once loaded, you can go into the Surfaces Panel for editing. The Save Temp LWO Files by default searches for the Newtek Programs Temp folder. This is where Thor stores its envelope animation files. This file can get large quickly. Check on it often especially if you have minimal disk space.
The Thor Parameters Envelope is where most of your animation requirements will be handled. See the Tutorial section for more details.
The complete description of the Thor object can be saved or loaded via the Load and Save Data to and from Thor Description format (.thr). Since this format is platform-independent, you can send this file to other Thor users, even if they are using Thor on another platform such as 3D Studio Max or Ray Dream.
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